1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape cassette used for magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus such as a video cassette recorders. Hereinafter, a tape cassette will be referred to as the "cassette", a magnetic tape as the "tape", and a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus as the "apparatus".
2. Description of the Prior Art
As an example of a known cassette, an 8 mm cassette disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1-320693 will be illustrated:
Referring to FIGS. 35 to 38, the illustrated 8 mm cassette, used for a video tape recorder, includes a housing 101 in which a first reel 102 and a second reel 103 are disposed. A tape 104 is carried on the first reel 102 and the second reel 103 so as to run from the former to the latter through an opening 107 formed at a front of the housing 101. A plurality of loading posts in the apparatus are maneuvered in the opening 107 so as to bring the tape into engagement with a rotary head cylinder.
The housing 101 is provided with a rotary front cover 105 which completely covers the tape 104 and front side surfaces of the housing 101. When the front cover 105 is upwardly rotated (in a clockwise direction in FIG. 36) around a pair of fixed pins 108, a rear cover 106 is urged so as to take an upward position.
As shown in FIG. 37, a lock 110 for prohibiting the rotation of the front cover 105 is supported rotatably forwardly and rearwardly in a rear portion of the opening 107. When the lock 110 is moved forwardly, the lock 110 comes into engagement with a protection 111 provided on a Side surface of the front cover 105, thereby prohibiting the front cover 105 from upwardly rotating. When the cassette is placed in a cassette holder of the apparatus, the lock 110 is rearwardly rotated with respect to the housing 101 by a tip portion 113 of an unlocking pin 112 and thus is disengaged from the projection 111, thereby enabling the front cover 105 to upwardly rotate. A front cover releasing pin 114 provided in the cassette holder is upwardly moved with respect to the cassette, thereby rotating the front cover 105 upwardly. In this way, the tape 104 extended in front of the housing 101 is exposed, and the loading posts are maneuvered into the opening 107 so as to stretch the tape 104 forwardly.
Under the construction described above, when the front cover 105 and the rear cover 106 are opened, they are overlapped on the housing 101 as indicated by the two-dot chain line of FIG. 36. To accommodate the overlapping covers 105 and 106, the cassette holder of the apparatus must have a sufficient space.
Further, the cassette holder must have the unlocking pin 112 for unlocking the front cover 105 and the front cover releasing pin 114 for allowing the front cover 105 to upwardly rotate. Accordingly, it is unavoidable that the construction of the cassette holder is complicated and economically poor.